You Are Not Alone
by Aileen Autarkeia
Summary: Selene Fletcher was never one to stand out from the crowd. Average in every way, she managed to make it through training with decent marks and a few friends to watch her back. When Trost falls, however, everything she knows is uprooted: and she learns that she is not precisely who anyone- or she herself- thinks she is... [OC]
1. Chapter 1

Hello, ladies and gents, and welcome to the first chapter of my newest endeavor. As you may have noticed, I just discontinued Midwinter's Eve. This is the other fan fiction that I mentioned.

There will be crossovers with multiple other fandoms, and I'll name them as they come. For starters, this chapter has major elements of Titanfall, the videogame. No prior knowledge of the game is required to read this, however.

I hope you enjoy.

There were roars that resounded down the street as I stood up. My head ached terribly; I rubbed the back of it and came away feeling blood. The Titans were rampaging through Trost, I realized. There was going to be a massacre- if there hadn't already been one.

I stood up slowly and leaned on the wall, checking my gear quickly. It seemed intact, for the most part. I breathed a sigh of relief and hit the triggers on my sword hilts.

I went flying through the air as soon as the lines connected to the building. The wind pushed my hair out of my face, and I breathed in deeply. The tangy smell of blood and the noxious scent of smoke filled my nose. I coughed a little bit and fell into a long swoop.

A Titan appeared in front of me. I grinned and readied my blades.

He heard me coming and turned slowly to watch my approach. I dodged his hand and sliced two chunks right out of the back of his neck. He groaned and fell. I shot off towards my next target, a 5-meter class at the end of the alley. He didn't even have time to register my presence before he collapsed.

There were two more nearby. I took a deep breath and tapped my canisters to check for the air. One was over half full, thank God. I had enough to keep going for a while. Then I launched off the roof I'd landed on, reloading blades in midair.

The Titan roared as I zoomed towards it, twisting, ready to strike. As soon as I was in reaching distance it grabbed for me- but I dropped just a little bit and managed to miss getting hit. My blades sliced deep across the Titan's neck. He fell with a thundering crash.

"2 minutes to Titanfall."

I almost fell out of the sky as a woman spoke into my right ear. There was no one around me except for the Titans- and they were incapable of speech… right?

I shrieked as a huge hand swatted at me. In my startled state, I'd forgotten about the second Titan. It ferociously snatched at me, but I detached my lines from the wall and free fell, shooting off the wires once I was low enough. The momentum I gained as I swung fired me into the air, where I managed to slam both blades, hilt deep, into the Titan's neck. I launched off and landed on a nearby rooftop, pausing to catch my breath and look around once again for the mysterious woman.

I was completely alone. There were groups on other rooftops, but no one was present in my immediate vicinity. The voice had come from nowhere.

"Am I going crazy?" I muttered, shaking my head slightly.

"1 minute to Titanfall."

I jumped again and whirled, sure I was going to catch the mystery woman in my ear. No one stood beside me. I rubbed my eyes and shook my head.

"Selene!" someone yelled. That time I saw someone- Armin was flying towards me at a fantastic rate. He landed on the roof beside me, surveying the Titan corpses before us. "You did that?"

I nodded. "Got scared-slash-mad. This-" and I gestured to the four Titan corpses- "was the result."

"Good job," Armin said. Something in his voice made me turn to see what was wrong. He was shaking; tears were running down his cheeks.

"Armin… what happened?" I whispered, turning my full body to grab his arms.

"My squad-" he whispered, closing his eyes. "All of them. They're-"

My heart lurched in my chest. "No. No, Armin, tell me Eren-"

"Saved me." Armin swallowed. "And died in my place."

"30 seconds to Titanfall."

I ignored the woman's voice. My world spun. Eren was- dead? It couldn't be. He couldn't be gone. He was one of the top in our class, for heaven's sake. He couldn't be dead.

Armin swiped at his eyes as I let my arms drop. "I- I froze. There was a Titan, it was about to eat me whole. Eren grabbed me and pulled me out-"

"He didn't kill it?" I asked.

He shook his head. "There was no time. I was- about to-" He shivered, obviously reliving something he didn't want to."

"15 seconds to Titanfall."

I took a deep breath and wiped my eyes. "Ok," I whispered, voice quavering. "Ok. We can- We'll deal with this later. Um- where are all the others?"

"Over there," Armin said, and gestured towards our left. I nodded silently.

"We should get going," I said.

He shook his head. "I'm almost out of gas. We all are."

"I'm not," I said.

"Your Titan is now ready."

"What?"

Armin looked at me strangely. "I didn't say anything."

"No, not you. There's a woman talking in my ear."

He looked at me worriedly. "Selene, there's only us on the roof."

"I know that," I snapped. "I think I hit my head on something." My hand came up to rub the back of my head. Something glinted into my eyes. I brought my hand down, ignoring the sticky red liquid on my fingertips, and looked at the strange watch on my wrist.

It was square, with no clock face that I expected. There was a screen instead, that was displaying the words "PUSH FOR TITANFALL." Armin looked at it and frowned.

"That's odd. What is it?"

"I don't know, but-" I tapped the screen gently and jumped as it flashed a brilliant green. "TITANFALL ACTIVATED" flashed on the screen instead.

"Selene, what did you do?" Armin asked, voice exceptionally calm.

"I- I don't know!" I yelled as the strange woman spoke again.

"Stand by for Titanfall."

I had no idea what the words meant, but a shiver ran down my spine. I felt like something amazing, something life-changing was about to happen. And it had happened before.

There was something in the sky, I realized. A disturbance of some kind. It seemed to be warping the blue and the clouds. I squinted, covering my eyes, but the watch beeped at me and I checked it quickly.

"It says 5 seconds to arrival," I told Armin.

"Arrival of what?"

Someone screamed in the distance. I gasped. Armin gulped.

An enormous mechanical being was falling out of the sky. It looked like it was heading straight for us, and I took a small step back. Armin started backing away.

"What's that?" he whispered.

My eyes widened. An indescribable feeling filled my chest. I laughed incredulously, and took a step forwards.

"That… that's a Titan," I whispered. "That's MY Titan."

The massive thing landed with a thud that shook the entire city. The ground crumbled a bit beneath it. Our building shivered. I took a deep breath, trying to control the excitement bubbling up in my stomach, and sprinted towards the Titan, which was reaching for me.

"Selene, what are you doing?!" Armin screamed behind me. "It's not safe!"

"It's fine!" I yelled back. "I know what I'm doing!"

Did I? I knew that something about seeing the huge thing- mech, my mind supplied- felt right in my very bones. But I didn't even know that it existed before three minutes or so ago.

Still, I readied myself and launched off the roof at the very last tile. The Titan reached out an enormous hand and caught me in its palm. The center opened up, right where its head and torso would be, and it gently placed me inside. My last glimpse of the outside world was Armin, reaching for me, screaming my name. I just grinned and gave him two thumbs up.

Then the sides closed in around me, and I strapped myself into the seat. The panels in front of me lit up, projecting a view of the outside world. I put my hands on the controls and flipped one on. The mech stood up. The woman's voice announced, "AI offline. Pilot mode engaged."

Armin yelled, right in my ears, "SELENE!"

"Armin, it's fine!" I yelled. "Grab onto the outside, stupid!"

"But where?" he shouted back.

I switched camera views a few times, giving myself a 360 view of the streets around me. "On the head," I finally told him, and reached out my mech's right hand to him. "Climb aboard."

He hesitantly stepped onto the mech. I placed him on the head and waited for a moment. "Found a hand hold?"

"Yes. Where are we going?" he asked.

I made my mech point at the others, scattered on rooftops and surrounded by the human Titans.

"We're going to go decimate some Titans."

With that, I slammed my foot onto the pedal that pushed us to jump. The Titan shot into the air, flying forwards a few streets. The landing broke the street beneath us.

That, in turn, got some of the Titans' attention.

I growled as one grabbed onto my Titan's leg and bit down. It got a mouthful of metal. The mech shook it off easily and slammed a foot into the Titan's neck. It went still in a millisecond.

"This thing is huge!" Armin shouted from the outside. I made my mech turn to see what was going on, only to come face to face with a 12-meter class Titan. I was easily as tall as it was.

"I'm taking no shite today, laddie-boy," I snarled at the thing. With a quick button push, the mech spouted a machine gun from its right arm and started firing. In a moment's time, the Titan had lost its head to bullets and collapsed, steaming.

"You're close!" Armin yelled to me. I grinned and piloted the mech through the street, arriving seconds later at the group of Titans grabbing for the Training Corp members.

"Good morning!" I roared on the external speakers, and started firing.

The Titans fell quickly. I took out the two 12-meter classes first, then the sole 11-meter, and finished off with the 10-and-unders. It took me less than 30 seconds to kill all the Titans.

Anything above a 13-meter class, and I was probably screwed. But for now, I could easily hold my own.

I piloted the mech to turn around and look at the group. Mikasa was staring, right at my eye level, eyes fixed on a point above my head. I rolled my eyes and flicked a switch labeled "External Projector". An image of my face sprang to life, right in front of Mikasa's face.

"Selene," she greeted calmly. "Why am I not surprised."

I gave her a grin and switched camera views, keeping an eye out for any surprises. "Yep. I brought you a present. Hey, Armin, say hi!"

Mikasa nodded curtly as the others came up to watch alongside her. "Selene?" Marco asked in astonishment.

I grinned at him and saluted. "Hello! I got an awesome new toy!"

"I can see that," he said faintly.

I frowned as one cam came up to show three Titans, a 7-meter, a 5-meter, and a 10-meter, approaching from the left. "Climb aboard. There's room enough for all of you. Where to?"

"We need more gas," Jean explained as he clambered up the mech suit to sit on top of my head. "HQ?"

I nodded. "Sounds good. Looks- oh, dear."

At least ten Titans, all of them 9-meter class and above, were climbing around on top of HQ. I swallowed silently. "Hey, Caddy, gimme an ammo count," I asked the cabin at large, hoping none of the others had heard me.

Immediately, a display flashed on the bottom right of the screen. It warned me that I had over 1000 bullets left to fire, and that I'd already fired around 2000 to take out the Titans. I vowed to conserve more ammo and said, "All right. Gimme a list of weapons this thing has."

Three options popped up on the screen. I raised one eyebrow.

"Everything all right?"

"Yep!" I shouted back. A last check of the area and I paused. Mikasa still stood, alone, on the rooftop. "Mikasa?" I asked worriedly. "C'mon. I'll give you a ride up."

She gave the Titan a distrustful glance and shook her head, unsheathing both blades. "I'll meet you there," she said calmly. "Go on ahead without me."

"Mikasa, come on," Armin called. It was hard to hear with all the external interference, but it sounded like his voice was quavering.

"I'll meet you at HQ," she said instead. "I'll see you later."

Before any of us could stop her, she turned and shot away, off towards the swarmed HQ.

"Shit," I growled softly and pressed down on the gas pedal. My mech started to walk forwards. "Holler if you see any Titans."

"You've got two ahead of you, a 5-meter and a 7-meter. Need us to take them out?"

I switched weapons and grinned viciously. "Oh, no need," I crooned, and fired off two rockets, locked onto the Titan's heat signatures. My fists shot into the air as they hit and blasted the heads right off the Titans. I crowed with enthusiasm, before reality slammed back into place and I grabbed the controls once again.

My mech took off through the streets, occasionally leaping over buildings and blocks. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I took out Titan after Titan, making my hands shake and hyping my reaction times. I checked in occasionally with those hanging onto the top of my mech to make sure they hadn't fallen off or gotten bit.

We were over halfway to the HQ when someone let out a scream of fear. "What is it?!" I cried on the external speakers, mech jolting beneath me as I twitched.

"Mikasa just fell!" Connie shouted.

"Where?!" I demanded.

"Don't worry about it! We're on it!" he shouted. The cameras showed Connie and Armin taking off towards where I'd last seen her.

I took a deep breath and nodded. "We're gonna keep going!" I called. "They'll catch up!"

I hoped they couldn't tell how my voice quivered.

We kept moving. More Titans fell before me, even as I rationed out every bullet I fired. I refused to allow the others to kill any- not because I was selfish, but because I wanted them safe. It all went well, too, until an ear-splitting roar caught all of our attentions. I turned the entire mech to see what the hell was going on.

My jaw dropped as a 15-meter class with messy black hair and brilliant green eyes punched another 15-meter's head off. "Oh my-" someone muttered. The external mic picked it up. I nodded in silent agreement.

I took a deep breath, cracked my fingers, and checked the health on my mech. Over three-quarters of it was still there, which was good. "Ok, guys, your call," I said. "Do we investigate or do we leave it alone?"

There was a pause. The mics picked up soft chatter as I waited. A few Titans wandered too close for comfort- I shot them down. Finally, Jean spoke up.

"Well, we have a plan, but it's definitely sketchy."

"I love sketchy. Spill."

"If that Titan really is killing other Titans- and we think it is- then we could possibly use it to help us clear out the HQ. Not that we don't think you can do it-"

"No, it's fine, I'm running low on ammunition anyways," I said quickly. "Continue."

"We think if we clear out the Titans around it, it'll move towards the HQ and be able to kill those," Marco explained.

I mulled it over in my mind, nodding slightly. "Sounds good. Where do we start?"

"Head over to where the Aberrant Titan is. We'll wait until we're close enough to help kill the ones near him. You conserve energy and resources. We just need a ride."

I nodded and cracked my knuckles. "Let's go."

My mech- which I had decided was called Caddy, for no apparent reason- took off at a run. We avoided the Titans and wove through the city. I kept my eyes on the Aberrant. It was still kicking the absolute hell out of the surrounding Titans. I grinned and kept moving.

We stopped a block or two away from the Aberrant. "Alright, kiddies, ride's over," I announced. "Do you want me out of the mech?"

"No, keep it ready to move. We'll need to go once our gas gives out."

I nodded silently. "Very well. I'll keep an eye on you. If one of you is about to go down, though- don't expect me to hold back."

I was met with silence. External cams showed that they'd taken off before they had a chance to respond. I just rolled my eyes and watched, hands tense on the controllers.

I didn't need to worry. It was easy to see they were doing just fine on their own. I stretched my hands, twitching each finger in succession to release the cramps that had been worked up over the time I'd been in the Titan. Meanwhile, I kept my eye on the group, occasionally switching views to keep an eye out for other Titans. Those on the outside were doing a better job of it than I could, though. I just needed to be ready-

"We're good, it's leaving, we're all here!" Jean roared.

I grinned and shouted back, "What took you so long?! Let's haul a** outta here!"

Caddy was up and moving in a millisecond, following the Aberrant as it raced towards HQ. I made sure to keep a safe distance. There were no other Titans around, thanks to those on the outside. I stretched my back, rolling my shoulders. I was starting to feel a little cramped, even in the spacious cabin. Stretching my legs would have to wait, though- I needed to keep on the move.

The Aberrant reached the HQ before we did, and immediately slammed his fist into two Titans that were peeking in one of the windows. "Go, go, go!" I roared loudly, activating the weapons on Caddy and getting ready to fire.

The external cams showed the others firing through the windows, as I turned my attention to those clambering all over the HQ. The Aberrant was taking down several of them. I turned my attention to the smaller ones, readying myself for a fight.

The first Titan to attack me got a fist to the face. I fired off a bunch of small rockets and grinned as they blew portions of Titans off. A hail of machine gun fire took off two heads. A glance at the Aberrant showed he had taken out five or so. I just had to take care of a 4-meter-

A shadow loomed over the mech. The Aberrant had finished annihilating the other Titans and turned his attention towards me. I swallowed.

Then the Titan that I had been about to kill latched onto the Aberrant's leg. It made the other Titan roar with pain. I narrowed my eyes and reached out with one hand, grabbing the smaller Titan's arm and pulling.

It came away with a mouthful of flesh, staring at me with that creepy grin on its face. Both arms reached for me.

"Dude," I said calmly. "You are fugly."

With that, I flung the Titan away as hard as Caddy could. It made an odd sound as it flew through the air and vanished into a row of houses. I turned my attention back to the Aberrant.

It stared at me with something akin to curiosity in its face. I waved Caddy's hand at it. It just stared back, before turning to walk away.

Instantly it was set upon by Titans- five or so, all 3 to 7-meter class. I was about to grab one and start picking them off it when a second shadow loomed over me.

It was a 14-meter class, evidently interested in me. I took a deep breath and switched modes- from machine gun to full blown rocket launcher.

"Come at me," I growled. "Let's go."

It reached for me, and I fired off a shot. The rocket hit its shoulder and exploded, taking off the arm. That didn't deter the Titan much. I dodged as it snatched at Caddy's arm and fired off another shot. That one took a leg off. The Titan crumpled and grabbed at my legs, catching hold and shaking.

I winced and slammed the foot down, dislodging its grasp and breaking its hand in the process. A 360 showed that the Aberrant was getting eaten rapidly. I shivered a bit and focused back on the 14-meter in front of me.

It roared from its place on the ground. I prepped another rocket and fired. The Titan swatted it out of the sky, taking off its remaining limb in the process. I had to reload, I realized- and fast.

Caddy backed up as I ordered her to, pulling another clip of rockets out of God-knows-where and quickly dropping the empty clip. She slammed the second clip into the launcher and spun it, snatching the empty clip off the ground and sliding it away where the full one had come from. The full clip was captured by metal straps and I wasted no time in firing another shot off. This one hit dead in the center of the throat. The Titan groaned and fell. My shoulders sagged with relief.

But it wasn't over yet. As I switched cameras, I noticed that the Aberrant was pinned. I frowned and switched back to the machine gun, but I couldn't risk firing off a few rounds without hitting the Aberrant. I growled and unstrapped myself, ready to climb out.

Then the Aberrant roared and moved, throwing off the Titans in a spectacular fashion. I forced Caddy to the side, moving it out of the way of one of the flying Titans. The Aberrant seized one by the nape of the neck, shook like a dog, and released at the pinnacle of his shaking head. The Titan went soaring.

I cheered for a moment, but the Titan was wavering. Slowly, it fell to its knees, then onto its face. I watched it, frowning, as it started to steam like a normal Titan. "No one cut its neck, though," I murmured. "Is it exhausted or something?"

As steam continued to flow from its body, I saw movement on the ground. After a moment, I realized that it wasn't on the ground.

There was something coming out of the Titan's soft spot.

I narrowed my eyes. Caddy waved the steam away as I tried to see what it was there. There was a long pause, where the world held its breath. Then I recognized what- or rather, who- it was, and slammed the eject button with a startled cry.

The top of Caddy opened and I shot out, dropping towards the ground. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I ran for the Aberrant, trusting in Caddy to keep the Titans occupied. Mikasa had beat me there, I realized, which wasn't a surprise.

What was a surprise was Eren Jaeger, still kneeling in the remains of a Titan skeleton, completely and totally passed out.

I clambered up the skeleton and sprinted to Mikasa and Eren. A glance around showed Caddy, taking care of any and all Titans that dared to come for us. It was holding its own, which was great, but Caddy had been at half health when I ejected, and it couldn't last forever.

"Mikasa, listen, we've got to get to higher ground," I said quickly, reaching out to her. "Come on. Let's go."

She looked up at me, tears welling in her eyes, and hugged him closer. "He's alive," she whispered.

I nodded, feeling pinpricks in my own eyes. "I know, Mikasa, but we need to go to the top of HQ. I'll get Caddy to carry us, or do you want to take him yourself?"

Mikasa took a deep breath, reluctant to release Eren, and slowly stood up. "I'll take him. You can ride… whatever that monstrosity is," she told me.

I nodded and stuck two fingers in my mouth. With one harsh blast of air, a piercing whistle cut the air. Caddy turned and sprinted towards us, abandoning its enemies in lieu of its pilot. Mikasa took off behind me as my mech reached out a hand to me. I gracefully stepped into the palm of its hand and held onto its thumb-like appendage as it moved to place me inside the cockpit.

"I just need a quick ride," I announced to the mech's AI. "Can you take me over to there?"

I pointed at the top of HQ, which was a few meters above Caddy's head. The mech looked at it for a long moment, before nodding and beginning to tramp over to the building.

It was easy enough to hang on and roll with the smooth motion of Caddy's gait. I just worried about how she- it was going to get me up to the top. As soon as we reached the building, the same mechanical female voice that had informed me of Titanfall warned me, "Launching in 3… 2… 1…"

I braced as soon as she said "Launching". By the time she said "1", I was ready to go.

Caddy threw me up into the air. I whooped with glee, waving down at Caddy for a moment before gravity once again took hold and I started to fall towards the group of people assembled on one of the highest rooftops.

I landed hard and rolled to absorb some of the impact. A few people shot glances at me, but most were focused on Mikasa, Eren, and Armin, kneeling on the ground and holding on to each other for dear life.

I suddenly felt like I was intruding. Slowly, I backed away, turning to look over the city. Caddy was still fighting, but she was out of bullets, and running very low on rockets. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. She was going to run out of life, probably, and there would be nothing I could do about it.

My watch beeped at me. I started slightly and looked down at my wrist. "RECALL TITAN?" the display read.

Hope whirled in my chest. My hand hovered over the button. I took a deep breath and touched the screen.

"RECALLING TITAN IN 5 SECONDS."

The timer ticked down. I bit my lip and crossed my fingers.

Then hooks shot out of the sky, right over Caddy. They attached to various points on her frame and began winching her up into the sky. It wasn't a slow process, either- within ten seconds, she vanished from view. I felt a sense of loss for a moment. Then my watch beeped again, and I checked it.

"TITAN REPAIRS 10% COMPLETE."

I sighed in relief. Caddy wasn't gone forever- just getting repaired and restocked.

Soft sobs were still carrying through the air behind me. I turned to look at them, pulling the trigger-hilts from their places under my arms and holding them loosely in my hands. Only a few people spared glances in my direction.

Isolation set in. I swallowed and looked away.

"We should move," Jean said. "We have to get to the walls."

I nodded silently, sliding my blades onto my sword hilts. There was silence for a moment. Then Mikasa straightened and sighed. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks, but the sobs had stopped. "You're right," she said solemnly. "I'll carry him. Let's move."

I waited until almost all of the others had left before I, too, took off. The wind felt lovely in my hair. I launched myself as high as I could and breathed in, letting my head fall back so my face pointed towards the sun. Gravity made me fall again, and I used the momentum to send me sky-high again.

We launched over the wall and fell into Wall Rose's relative safety. I sighed as soon as my feet touched the ground and checked my watch again. "TITAN REPAIRS 40% COMPLETE." A soft smile danced over my face for a moment, before a cool stare fell back into place.

After a moment to just stand there and let the tenseness roll off my back, I turned and walked towards where all the other unhurt soldiers were standing or sitting and talking.

The gossip mill was at it, of course. I wasn't past twenty people before I'd heard at least 10 different guesses on the identity of the Aberrant Titan that was Eren, and 3 or so on my identity. I slid through the crowd, collecting as much info as I could.

Sasha grabbed my arm out of nowhere. I yelped, but offered little resistance as she dragged me over to the table the remains of the 104th were sitting at. I had to swallow a gasp. There were only a few people left. I recognized most of them- Connie, Krista, Ymir, Sasha, Bertolt, Reiner, and Annie were all there.

"Where's Jean and Marco?" I asked as I sat down.

"We don't know. We were going to ask you. Do you know where Armin and Mikasa and Eren are?"

"Somewhere around here. I think they were a few streets over." I shrugged. Krista handed me a canteen. There was a lot of water in it- I took a deep sip and nodded my thanks. "They're fine. I think."

"Great." Connie slammed his forehead into the table. "So half of us are missing?"

I nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the views, and enjoy!

Just a few updates: There will be spoilers. I'm current on all the manga. Also, several characters which died in the manga/anime will live- there are five major ones I can think of, one in this chapter.

0.0.0

We sat in relative quiet for a few minutes. I checked my watch again. Caddy was at 90%.

Just as I was about to go look for Jean and Marco, a bolt of lightning erupted only a few blocks over. I gasped and bolted to my feet, staring at the place the lightning had hit. "What was that?!" Krista asked.

"I'm going up," I said tensely, and launched into the air without another word. I figured I knew what had happened, but I needed to check to make sure. As soon as I touched down on the roof, I sprinted for the location.

Sure enough, an enormous skeleton, half there, with one muscled arm reaching up towards something, was planted firmly in the middle of the courtyard. I gasped and checked my watch frantically.

"TITAN REPAIRS AT 100%".

That was a relief. If I needed to help my friends out, I could probably do so.

Smoke was billowing from the skeleton. I dropped into a crouch and surveyed the rest of the courtyard. My jaw dropped- there were easily 30 Survey Corps members surrounding the skeleton. A glance up showed me that there were cannons pointing at Eren's skeleton, and in a flash, I understood what had happened.

Armin's clear voice cut through the air. He was screaming something at the soldiers. I had to give it to him- there was no sign of fear on his face. He was completely unarmed, doing the soldier's salute. I bit my lip and dug my fingernails into my palm, praying desperately for their survival.

Slowly, as if in a bad dream, the commander's hand lifted. With horror growing in my mind, I knew he was about to fire the cannons again. I couldn't watch. My shaking hands covered my face, waiting for the inevitable explosion-

Only it didn't occur.

I slowly peeked through my fingers. A man was holding onto the commander's arm, keeping it from falling. I frowned and focused on the man's face, trying to recall if I knew it from anywhere. Then it hit me: Dot Pixis, the commander of all southern forces. I guessed that he'd been called as soon as the Titans had invaded Trost. It didn't surprise me that he'd turn up.

The others thundered onto the roof behind me. "What is it?" Connie asked frantically. "What's wrong?"

I just pointed.

They were talking down in the courtyard now. I sighed with relief as the guns lowered. We wouldn't have to lose three of our own today.

Now I just had to keep my identity secret.

We slowly returned to the street, where everyone was talking at the same time, afraid of the enormous crash we'd heard earlier. I kept my head down and stuck to the group silently. Nerves made me tongue tied. At the earliest opportunity, I slid into a back alley and fell asleep.

Some kind soul woke me up just in time to listen to the plan. I hated it, personally. It was far too risky. They'd literally only JUST found out about Eren's Titan-shifting abilities, and they were already counting on him being able to control it. I crossed my arms over my chest and shifted my weight around as I listened.

My watch beeped softly in my ear. I risked a glance down. "PUSH FOR TITANFALL" was displayed on the screen. I frowned and hid my hands in my pockets, tugging my jacket sleeve down over my wrists, and by proxy the watch.

I closed my ears to the speech Pixis was giving and readied myself. As soon as he declared 'everyone up', I pulled both triggers and shot into the sky, launching myself up as high as I could towards the wall. I wasn't the only one, either- a large group of 40 or more soldiers were also flying towards Wall Rose. Most of them made it up before me, but I wasn't worried.

As soon as I summited, I took off towards where Armin, Mikasa, and Eren were. I slowed when I saw who they were with and came to a halt a few meters away.

After a short discussion, Mikasa and Eren took off. Armin stayed, and once Pixis wandered off, I felt safe enough to approach him.

"Hey, Selene," he said quietly, staring at the map of the city.

"Hey, Armin," I said back. "You were the one to figure out this plan?"

He nodded slowly. "I don't think it'll work," he whispered after a moment. "It's- there's just too many variables. Everything about this hinges on a series of moving parts, and some of them aren't guaranteed to work."

I nodded silently. "If anything goes wrong," I offered after a moment, "I know I'm new to this whole thing, but- you can always ask me for help."

He looked at me sharply. "You haven't told anyone," he said. There was no question in his tone.

I shook my head. "You?"

He looked offended.

"Sorry. Stupid question."

We turned to look at the soldiers on the corner of the wall. "I can't help but think of all those that have died today, and all of those that will die," he whispered.

I sighed softly and hung my head. "We've just got to make sure their sacrifices aren't in vain."

He nodded.

"I should go. Good luck, Armin. Stay safe, ok? No matter what happens."

Armin nodded briefly and waved, turning back to his map.

I found Jean and Marco, standing together close to the outside edge of the wall. A quick glance over the edge showed a mounting number of Titans, well over 60, reaching longingly for those that were dangling precariously on the edge of the wall. We looked at each other silently.

"They want me to be hanging," Marco said after a moment.

"What?!" I exclaimed, turning to look at him at the same time that Jean snapped, "No."

"It's not my choice to make," he said as he checked his 3DMG. "I'm supposed to be pretty high up, though. I should be fine."

I walked to where he stood and helped him check his gear. "Be careful," I ordered him quietly. "I'm serious. If you think something's going wrong, get out of there. I'd hate for you to die before you join the Military Police."

He gave me a small smile. "Who says I'm planning on going there?" he asked.

I raised my eyebrow silently. "It's all you've talked about since day one-"

"True," he murmured, shrugging lightly. "I'm not so sure anymore, though…"

"Huh," I said softly. "Well, we'll make it out of this alive and we can talk then, aye?"

He smiled at me, eyes sparkling brightly. "Sounds good."

I abruptly pulled him into a tight hug. "Don't die, you hear me?" I whispered fiercely, as he hugged me back. "I'll raise you from the dead to murder you again if you do."

He laughed in my ear. I reluctantly drew away and finger combed his hair out, as I'd been doing since Jean, Marco and I had started hanging out, over two years ago. He endured my ministrations without complaint, for the first time ever.

"There," I said finally. "Now you look somewhat decent."

"Thanks, Selene," Marco said softly. "You be safe yourself."

"Look who's talking," I said fondly. "I'll be just fine."

"All right, you two, quit flirting," Jean finally growled. "We've got a job to do."

"Is someone jealous?" I teased lightly. "Want me to straighten out your hair too?" I moved towards him and stood on my toes, trying to see what state his hair was currently in. He brushed me off gruffly. I made an over-exaggerated pouty face.

"I'm fine," he told me. "Don't you have work to do?"

I sighed and my shoulders slumped slightly. "Right. Sorry, Jean. I'm off. Both of you- be careful."

"We will!" Marco called. I turned my back as he launched off the wall.

"Cadet Fletcher," one of the Captains called. "You'll be on mobile defense. Await further orders here."

I snapped to attention. "Yessir."

"Dismissed."

So I sat down on the wall and waited.

The green flare went off in the distance. I looked up in time to see a lightning bolt over the city. The soldiers shifted around uneasily. I just waited.

There was a roar in the distance. My head came up and I straightened, looking out over the city to see if the boulder was moving yet, but there was nothing I could see yet.

"What's taking them so long?" someone asked behind me. "Surely the Titan bastard must be working right now-"

A red flare went up. I didn't think- I scrambled to my feet and took off sprinting down the wall.

It probably would've been faster to use my 3DMG to get across the city, but I didn't want to risk it. Besides, I may have to use it later, and if I was already low on gas, it wouldn't be worth it.

My feet pounded into the walls again and again. I felt my breathing get harsher as I ran on, but I pushed it away as much as I could.

I finally turned the corner and put on a short burst of speed. People around me noticed my frantic sprint, but didn't comment on it- or if they did, I didn't hear it.

It occurred to me as I continued to run that I had directly disobeyed a higher-up's orders. I didn't really care though. I could get my punishment for disobedience later. Right now, I wanted to help with my newly-discovered mech.

Finally I reached the point closest to the boulder and Eren. Mikasa and Armin were screaming at each other on the ground. Eren seemed to be down and out for the count. I stared at his Titan corpse, swallowed hard, closed my eyes. I needed to move, my mind told me. But my heart had sunk to somewhere around my feet and anchored me to the wall.

There was no one paying attention to me at all. I was just another soldier, I told myself. They wouldn't notice if I dropped down into the city, snuck away, and summoned the mech. It seemed like the best course of action- so I carefully glanced around for any watchers and stepped straight off the wall.

Wind screamed in my ears as I plummeted towards the ground. Milliseconds before impact, I fired the wires straight forwards and caught onto two buildings, immediately swinging into a low curve that skimmed the ground. I dodged a Titan- as fast as I was going, it didn't even register that there was a person there until I was well out of reach. A small, secluded pavilion caught my eye- I aimed for that.

As soon as I was in range, I slammed my palm onto the screen on my watch. It flickered green and the woman's smooth voice said, "Standby for Titanfall."

After only a few seconds, Caddy dropped out of the sky to land- hard- on the cobble streets. She opened the cockpit doors as I streaked towards her, twisting in midair and firing off the wires to slow me down. It worked- I landed inside the cockpit with considerably less force than Mach 1.

"AI mode offline. Switching to Pilot mode," the woman told me. I nodded and strapped myself in, feeling very grim about this whole situation.

"Give me full ammo stats and keep me updated," I ordered Caddy. "We're going to be fighting a lot of Titans today."

Caddy began to walk down the street towards Eren at my behest. Mikasa and Armin looked up at the mech. "Mikasa," I said on the external speakers. "Go."

She nodded reluctantly and took off. I settled into my seat and readied myself for a fight.

Armin was talking to Eren as I glanced over, but I turned my back to them and focused on the four Titans that were coming in.

Three of them were taken out by the three squads tasked with protecting Eren, but the last one was getting too close for comfort. I unleashed a hail of bullets into its throat. It folded easily.

I defended Eren for around 10 minutes, before a roar sounded from behind me. I switched cams to see that Eren was standing up slowly, unfolding himself, fully healed. He turned around and grabbed the boulder, straining to lift it from the ground. I longed to help, but there were more Titans coming towards him. I took out three, before a huge shadow fell over me and I dodged to the side.

Eren, with the boulder on his shoulders, was walking towards the hole in Wall Rose. I cheered inside my mech, throwing both hands into the air and shouting for joy. The reality of the situation quickly took hold and I dropped straight off the high, hands grabbing the controls once again.

I followed behind Eren, clearing out every single Titan that attempted to attack him from behind. The greatly-reduced squads were killing those in front of him. He slowly stumbled closer and closer to the hole. I held my breath and waited, fingers trembling on the controls.

With a tremendous roar, Eren slammed the boulder into the hole. I screamed with joy, dancing in my seat, not even attempting to contain my excitement. A green flare rocketed into the sky from one of the surviving squad leaders.

I watched as Armin attempted to extract Eren from the neck of the Titan. Mikasa joined him and I stumped over to see if I could help. Obviously, I couldn't, considering I was in an enormous mech and my fine motor skills were about as good as a Titan's, but I could watch and offer encouragement.

That was, until two smaller shadows fell over us.

I spun the mech and fired off two rockets immediately. They took off limbs of the two Titans that were reaching out for the Shiganshina trio. It wasn't enough, though. I moved Caddy into their path and powered up the rockets-

But they collapsed abruptly. I nimbly skipped Caddy out of the way and stared at the smoldering corpses. On top of one of their heads stood a rather short man, with close-cropped black hair and a disgusted look on his face.

I recognized him, of course, but considering I couldn't exactly give him a proper salute, I was forced to stump away, heading towards the small section of forest in Trost.

As soon as I reached it, I ejected and pressed the display on my watch, which once again read "RECALL TITAN?" Hooks winched Caddy back up into the sky, and I sprinted along the streets, heading back towards the main group of Titans.

I soon caught up to a large group of the Survey Corps, who were killing Titans every which way. I managed to blend easily with them, getting in a few good strikes while I was at it. I didn't need to kill any- I just assisted where I could and managed to drag a few people out of the way of Titans.

As I moved around, I kept most of my attention on the Titans. However, part of my gaze was directed towards the ground.

We were about halfway back to Rose when I saw a small figure, squaring off against a 7-meter class in the street.

I twisted and fell towards the earth, right towards the neck of the Titan. Both swords were out and ready, and I let myself twist into a slow-spinning dervish.

I sliced straight through the Titan's flesh, carving a large slice right out of his neck. It wavered and fell forwards, just barely missing the soldier. I stepped off the neck, approaching the person.

He turned to look at me, and a grin spread across my face. "Jean!" I shouted gleefully, picking up my pace to throw both arms around his neck. "You made it!"

A flicker of some emotion crossed his face. He hugged me briefly, arms locked tight around me, and I returned the favor. Then he released and hurriedly undid the maneuver gear from around the waist of a dead soldier.

"Jean?" I asked hesitantly. "What are you doing?"

"My 3DMG isn't working," he said tightly, hurriedly fastening the new gear to his waist. "We need to get going."

"I know," I said hastily, quickly making my way to his side and assisting in the straps. My fingers nimbly tugged at the loose ends, tightening the straps as quickly as I could. We both kept an eye out for the Titans.

Finally, Jean nodded. "I think that's good. Ready?"

"Yeah. Let's move."

We took off immediately. Jean quickly adjusted to the new 3DMG as I kept an eye on him. We flew towards Wall Rose. Both of us scanned the ground, looking for more survivors.

That was the only reason I saw the second survivor, trying to fend off 2 Titans at once from the ground. I looked down, narrowing my eyes and trying to see who it was.

A mop of black hair caught my eye. "JEAN! IT'S MARCO!" I screamed, and dove.

Right as Marco was about to get picked up, I sliced the first Titan's neck. The thing started to fall forwards, but before Marco could get squashed, Jean grabbed him off the ground and launched as far away as he could. I flew back up into the air, sagging with relief.

"I thought I was dead! Thanks!" Marco shouted. I grinned and waved.

We shot back towards the wall. A hundred Titans, easy, were jammed up against the wall. I avoided one enterprising one's hand that grabbed for me and attached to the wall, running up it as fast as I could. We reached the top in record time and came to a halt.

"I was told to go help defend Eren," Marco explained as Jean set him down. "But- a Titan swiped me out of the sky. I think I passed out. I woke up just as those two Titans were about to grab me."

I knelt beside him. "Let me see," I ordered.

He pointed to his right leg. It was twisted at an odd angle; his knee was out of joint, I guessed. I hissed softly. "That looks painful. Who told you to go help Eren out?" My eyes flickered to Jean's. He caught my meaning and nodded briefly, slowly sliding his arms under Marco's and waiting for my signal.

"It was a captain, I think," he said, frowning slightly. "I'm not sure who it-"

I popped his knee back into place. He yelled in pain and jolted, arching away from Jean, whose elbows were under Marco's armpits, hands made into fists and pulled back against his shoulders. Marco slumped back against Jean after a moment, panting lightly.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," I whispered, reaching a hand out to touch his cheek lightly. "I'm sorry. It'll be a lot easier to bear now."

He covered his face with his hands, shaking slightly. I pulled my jacket off and began wrapping it around his knee carefully. "I'm sorry," I murmured again.

"Thanks," he gasped out after a moment. "It- it's better now."

I sighed softly and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so glad you're all right," I whispered softly. "Just another second- and we would've been too late."

Marco just covered his face with his arm.

"I'll take him down to ground level. They've got a hospital set up. He can get checked out real fast." Jean stood up and carefully picked Marco up in a fireman's hold. "Don't go do anything stupid."

I flashed him a brief smile. "Don't worry about me. Go on."

He took off down the other side of the wall. I turned to the group of soldiers and trainees and began to intermingle.

Jean joined me after ten minutes or so. "Bed rest for tomorrow and he'll be fine," he murmured in my ear, startling me slightly. "What's the latest news?"

"A lot of animosity towards Eren, and a helluva lot of guesses about who was driving that big mechanical beast," I told him. "So far I've heard some of the most far-fetched theories ever."

"Do tell," he said dryly. "They've retrieved Eren, by the way. We're all heading into the interior tomorrow. There's going to be a trial as to what should be done with him."

A cold shiver ran down my back. "What do you mean?"

"They're deciding if he lives or dies," Jean murmured solemnly. "The Military Police wants to dissect him. The Survey Corps are arguing that he'd be a far more valuable asset if kept alive."

I nodded silently. "Great. Thank you."

"We've been ordered to report to HQ for the 'official' announcement of this new trip. I came to get you. C'mon."

I nodded silently and followed close behind.


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, canon shall not be followed closely in this story. The main storyline will be the same, but otherwise- everything is fair game.

Also, no prior knowledge of these universes is required. If you want to guess where each character is from- be my guest!

0.0.0

In my dream, I stood in a warehouse.

It was completely empty. There was nothing for 10 meters in every direction. The ceiling was easily 15 meters over my head. I turned in a circle, looking for anything that would give me a way out.

There were no doors. Windows were only at the very top of the building, right beneath the roof. I took a deep breath and started to walk towards the walls.

There was an odd noise, and a person appeared from behind a screen of 0s and 1s. She was barely taller than me; her hair was a dark blonde that was braided back and hung to her elbows. Her outfit was black and gray, made of some skintight material and an odd type of metal. She carried a huge sword that glowed a bright blue. It was easily as long as her leg. One arm cradled an oddly shaped helmet with glass so dark it was opaque.

But the weirdest thing about her was that she had my face.

I gasped and took a small step back. The girl with my face smiled at me and tilted her head.

"So you're our newest member," she said. Her voice was my own. "Selene."

"How do you know my name?" I asked suspiciously.

"Because you're one of us."

It was my voice, albeit slightly higher, but it wasn't the strange other-me talking. I turned to the right to see another me, this one with long bright blonde hair, a fair few centimeters taller than I was. She wore a red-white-and-blue outfit, another skintight suit. The torso was a dark, dark blue with a silver star over her chest. There were vertical red and white stripes leading to a pair of pants, also dark blue. She carried a circular shield on her arm, with another silver star in the middle, ringed by red and white. She came to a stop a few feet away from me, smiling warmly.

"One of us?" I repeated, feeling vaguely cultish. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're one of my regenerations," another girl said. Unlike the other two, she wasn't dressed in a skintight suit, looking battle ready. She wore blue pants that were made of an odd material I didn't recognize and a dark green jacket. Both hands were stuffed into her pockets. Her hair was a light brown, straightened, that fell just past her shoulders. Again, she shared my face, though she was only slightly taller. "I'm your original, Selene. My name's Rae."

"I'm Stephanie," the red-white-and-blue girl said.

"And I'm Sixteen," the sword-girl said.

"All three of you are me, just in another universe," Rae explained. "In my universe, you're all from books, or movies, or video games." She nodded at me, then Stephanie, then Sixteen. "I created all of you from my mind. You're me."

I just stared at her.

"You'll get used to it," Stephanie said kindly. "I did. I was one of the first she told."

I blinked a few times, shook my head. "Wait. So let me get this straight. We're… you… in- what? Alternate universes or something crazy like that?" I snorted slightly. I'd read about the concept in a book during my training. My brain had hurt after finishing just a page of it.

"Exactly," Rae said happily. "You do understand! One less thing for me to explain. Now, the reason you're here is that-"

"You keep borrowing my mech," a faintly unamused version of my voice said behind me. I turned around.

Another version of me- or was it Rae?- stood behind me, wearing a completely straight face. She wore heavy-duty combat armor, all in shades of green and brown. It was accented in orange and purple. Her hair was black and curly, short and matted close to her head. She carried a pair of goggles under her arm, big and bulky. They would probably cover her head most of the way. Adding the hood that I could see on her back, it probably meant her whole body would be hidden beneath the armor. I looked at her and frowned.

"Asteria," she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, supposed twin."

"You're my twin?" I asked incredulously.

"You might as well be. You come from very, very similar worlds," Rae said. "Titanfall and Attack on Titan. Both with oversized… things, air-powered things that help you fly-"

"3D Maneuvering Gear," I said, at the same time that Asteria said "Jetpacks." We exchanged glances.

"Yes, those things," Rae said, a smirk growing on her face. "Your names have the same origin- and you even call your mech the same thing."

"Caddy?" we chorused. I frowned in confusion and glanced over to see the exact same expression on her face.

She nodded. "Anyways. I just wanted to drag you here to explain that you aren't alone, and if you ever need any help, just call for one of us. We'll get over when we can to assist."

I nodded slowly. "Ok," I said after a moment. "Still trying to get my head around this whole concept, but-"

"I know it's weird. Trust me, I had the same reaction," Stephanie said. "We all did."

The world warped. I blinked, frowned.

"You're waking up," Rae said. She shrugged. "It took us most of the night to get you here and set up. Anyways, we'll be on call, for the most part. You aren't the only four- there are plenty more of us. Just contact me if you ever need any help."

I nodded as my vision began to gray out. "Goodnight," Stephanie said, waving. Sixteen disappeared without a word.

Asteria punched my shoulder. "Give me a shout, next time you need to borrow Caddy," she said. "A little warning would be appreciated."

I nodded.

"Wake up," Rae said simply.

I bolted upright, gasping for breath. "You ok?" Mikasa asked from a few beds over.

After a moment, I relaxed, flopping back onto my pillow. "Yeah. Dream," I said.

"Good or bad?"

"Neutral."

"I see." Mikasa was silent while I stared at the ceiling for a moment. Then she sighed softly and said, "Anyways, you need to get up. We're supposed to go to the interior today."

That was right- we were going to the Capitol for Eren's sentencing. My throat closed up abruptly as I sat upright. I could only nod and swing out of bed.

Within the hour, we were moving out. Eren still hadn't woken up from his almost coma-like state since retaking Trost. Mikasa and Armin rode with him. I rode ahead on the sturdy horse I'd been given with Jean and Marco and the rest of the 104th.

We rode in complete silence as I mulled over the previous night's events. So there were alternate universes. And apparently I was in one. I wondered briefly if I was an alternate version of Rae, then that meant that everyone else had alternative versions of themselves. Then I wondered how Rae knew she was the original. Then I quit thinking because my head was hurting just thinking about that.

We rode for days upon days. Every day took us deeper into the Walls. Three days or so in, we reached Wall Sina. I stared up at it as we rode through the wall. It was no different from the other walls, but it still seemed to be sturdier than Wall Rose or Wall Maria. The people here were more cheerful, too- even though they eyed us with suspicion or outright fear and anger. I took a deep breath and pulled my hood over my head even more.

Somehow, even the mere knowledge that I had a few people who were exactly like me, who knew how I worked, and were willing to drop everything to come and help me if things at this trial went south quickly, made me feel safer.

They dragged Eren away as soon as we reached the Capitol. Armin and I had to restrain Mikasa, as she strained against us to follow him. We were soon helped by Jean and Marco. With their help, we were able to slowly drag her away from Eren. Tears stung at my eyes as well; Armin was silently crying.

Finally, we were out of sight of Eren. Mikasa sagged and fell to her knees. I caught her before she could fall over and carefully passed her off to Armin. He hugged her silently, and together they just knelt in the dust.

I turned away and slowly walked back to the lodgings we'd been provided with. I shared a room with the other girls. My bed was the one farthest from the door, closest to the sole window that was partially stuck open. It wasn't too bad- the air was fairly cool at this time of year, and it provided me with a nice breeze late at night. I carefully climbed the stairs, avoiding the eyes of anyone who passed me, and slipped into the room.

Our few bags were placed on our beds. I walked over to mine and sat down, absently checking my watch as I did so. It still read "PRESS FOR TITANFALL", but on the way over I'd found a switch on the side that disabled the ability to touch the screen and activate Titanfall. It was a relief- I no longer had to worry about accidentally deploying Caddy.

I breathed out slowly and rested my head in my hands. I didn't believe in the walls as deities- they were man-made, after all- but I wasn't sure about any other deities. It didn't hurt to pray, I guessed. So I bowed my head and folded my hands.

"I don't know if there's anyone out there," I whispered. "But- please, don't let Eren die tomorrow. He wouldn't be the only one to die- Mikasa would kill herself with grief. Armin? I don't even know. Whoever's out there, I'm begging you- don't let Eren die."

It felt better, just getting my fears out there. It felt like a great weight had been lifted off my chest. I still didn't know if there was anything out there, but just asking for something was comforting, for some reason.

I shook myself after a moment's rest and stood up, turning to my bag and beginning to pull a few necessities out of it. Ymir and Krista came in as I sat back down and started to brush my hair, smoothing out the tangles from the long ride.

"Wonder if they've got showers here," I commented softly, trying to make the atmosphere slightly lighter.

"They do," Krista said. "I saw some as I was coming here from the mess hall."

"Sasha found it yet?"

She smiled slightly. I groaned.

We talked softly for the rest of the evening. Ymir didn't say much, but Krista was more than willing to talk softly. We shut up when Sasha and Mikasa came in, though. It was late by the time we started to fall asleep.

I was woken by the soft sound of the window jingling. It was a soft sound, wood-on-wood moving. I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes. The noise stopped.

"Mikasa?" I whispered, soft as I could.

There was silence for a moment. "Go back to sleep, Selene."

I blinked a few times, finally able to see Mikasa's faint silhouette in front of the window. "Too late. What's up?"

She shifted slightly.

"You're going to go find Eren, aren't you?"

"If I say yes, will you tell?"

I snorted. "I will if you don't let me tag along."

She sighed. It was a frustrated sound. I was sure she wasn't counting on me being a light sleeper. "Fine. But the moment you give us away, you're on your own."

I swung my feet out of the bed and pulled on the thin slippers that I wore at base. My cloak was hung at the base of the bed; I pulled it on and clipped the sides together. "Same applies to you. Now, c'mon. Let me see the window."

She reluctantly stepped aside. I knelt and examined the window cautiously. My fingers ghosted over the wooden frame gently. My eyes widened as I found a thick splinter of wood that was caught on the window frame.

"Mikasa, give me your knife," I hissed. She passed it over reluctantly. I gently applied pressure to the splinter, one hand supporting the frame in case it abruptly gave way.

It did, of course, and dropped onto my outstretched hand. Mikasa grabbed it as well. I put the splinter between the bottom of the window frame and the windowsill, before lifting the window up as high as I could. Mikasa slipped out and held the window for me as I climbed back out. We slowly made it fall shut again. Just in case, I lifted the window sill. It easily slid open and shut again.

"We're good, let's go," I told Mikasa. She was already sprinting along the roof, keeping low to the tiles and avoiding any lanterns that could cause her to cast a shadow. I rolled my eyes and followed.

We snuck along in silence. I kept my hood up as far as possible; it fluttered slightly in the light breeze, but I ignored it and kept moving. Finally, Mikasa pushed me to my knees and dropped beside me. "Here-" she whispered, pointing at a massive marble building across a barren courtyard.

"Are you kidding me?" I hissed. "There's no way we're getting to that."

"We're gonna have to," she said grimly. "And then we've gotta get inside, and all the way to the bottom floor."

"Sh**," I growled. "And how do you propose to do that?"

She looked away.

"You don't have a plan, do you," I said stonily.

Mikasa shook her head.

I stared up at the starry sky. "Oh, my gosh, Mikasa," I muttered. "Geez."

We sat there for a few moments, before I leaned back and sighed. *All right, Rae. Time to shine. I need someone who can help me sneak deep into the heart of enemy territory without getting caught. Got anyone?*

In the silence that followed, I wondered if it really hadn't been a dream. But then my own voice floated back to me. *Sure. I'm getting someone right now. Her nickname is the Panther. You'll know her when you see her.*

I sighed and sat up, surveying the roofs around us. "I think I have a plan," Mikasa murmured after a moment.

"I have one too," I retorted. "Just give me a second…"

Before she could stop me, I softly whistled like a sparrow would sing. I only repeated the call twice before she slapped a hand over my mouth.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed angrily. "You're going to get us caught!"

"No, I'm not. In all honesty, we stand a better chance of not getting caught if she shows up."

I was bluffing. I had no idea who Rae was sending, if she'd be any good, or even if she'd show up. I only had hopes and prayers that it would work out.

There was a shadow on the other roof, I noticed. It seemed out of place. I frowned and squinted, leaning forwards.

The next second it moved. I started slightly.

*I think I see her.*

*You probably do. We're more sensitive to each other's presences than normal people are,* Rae said. *Just be prepared. She's rather unusual.*

The shadow started running towards us. Within a few moments she reached us and crouched beside us. Mikasa eyed her suspiciously.

"Panther?" I asked hesitantly.

"Selene," she said briefly. "Nice to meet our newest addition. What's the problem?"

"Mikasa, do you want to explain?" I asked.

She stared at me for a moment. "You know this person?" she asked.

I hesitated for just a brief moment. "Yeah, more or less," I said. "Mutual acquaintance."

"I'll ask later where you know her from," Mikasa said frostily. "For now, we need to get going. The night's growing short."

"Agreed. Where do we need to go?" Panther asked.

"Basement of that building," I said, pointing at the courthouse.

Panther straightened and stared at it for a moment. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she stared, flicking everywhere and nowhere at once. "Ok," she said after a moment, and stood up. Two tanned, scarred hands came up to her peaked hood and tugged on the tip, covering her face up even more than it already was. "Follow me. Stay low and stay quiet. If I say stop, you stop, and be ready to run."

I nodded and stood up. "Let's go," I told Mikasa.

She stayed seated, staring at me. "Do you trust that girl?" she asked solemnly.

I didn't hesitate that time. I nodded immediately.

Mikasa slowly stood up. "Ok then," she said.

We took off quickly. Panther led us over the rooftops, approaching the marble building. "There's an unlocked window on the second floor we can use," she said quietly. Her voice carried back to us. I nodded, knowing not to question how, exactly, she knew it was unlocked.

We reached it, and she lifted the sash. It rose without complaint. One eyebrow lifted as I slid through and found a shadowy spot behind a chair to wait while the other two slipped in.

"All right. There's a guard that patrols this hallway," Panther said after a quick glance at the ground. "We need to move, and move fast. Follow me."

I brought up the rear as Panther lead the way. Mikasa was sandwiched between us, and entirely disgruntled about it, too.

We made it to the ground floor after an intense 15 minutes, wherein we hid from guards 3 separate times. My heart was pounding so loud I could swear anyone within a meter radius would hear me. We hurried towards a small set of stairs when voices sounded behind me. I frantically pointed to a small sofa pressed against a wall and Mikasa and I hid behind that. Panther climbed up the wall and hid on top of a small decorative column.

"He's out for now," one of the men said. "The drugs apparently affect him the same as they would any normal human being."

I sucked in a breath. They were talking about Eren- I knew it.

"Of course. We even upped the dosage. He only woke up briefly to speak with Commander Erwin and Squad Leader Levi, but the fool drank all the water he could stomach and passed back out again."

"Has he said anything else we could use against him at his trial?"

"He's been passed out for the last 5 hours. No."

A disgruntled sigh. "Well, luckily, sleep-talking is easy enough to fake. Just make it something believable."

A glance at Mikasa showed that she was white as a sheet, fists tightly clenched, eyes blazing with anger as she stared holes into the back of the sofa. "Keep calm," I breathed. "We can't get caught. It would go badly for us."

Thankfully, she nodded as their footsteps receded. Panther climbed down the pillar again, managing to convey grimness even though her face was completely covered.

"Let's go," she said, and we hurried along.

The stairwell was guarded by two guards, who looked like they were going to fall asleep at their post. Panther signaled for us to hide, before vanishing down another corridor. After just enough time to get us antsy, a candle at the end of the hall went out, prompting startled exclamations from the guards. They went to relight it and check around as Panther rejoined us.

We snuck downstairs. The stairs were stone, which meant that there was no danger of creaky boards. At the base of the stairs, Panther stopped us again and pointed at a pair of guards, sound asleep.

"You'll need to move very quietly," she breathed in my ear. "If they do wake, I'll subdue them, but your cover will be blown. Let's try to avoid that."

I passed the message onto Mikasa, who nodded firmly and dropped into a crouch. I followed suit and followed close behind as she stealthily slid past the guards and made her way down the corridor towards a single torch at the end.

I held my breath as one snorted in his sleep. It was a false alarm, luckily, and I continued to move, keeping my footsteps as soft as possible. A glance at the end of the hall showed Mikasa, now standing with her fingers clutching the bars of one cage. I paused, frowned, and retreated to Panther's side.

"Thanks for the help," I whispered softly.

She nodded. "Welcome. I had nothing better to do tonight, and this gave me an adrenaline rush."

I nodded slightly, keeping my eyes on the guards and Mikasa, as she tried to softly wake Eren. "So…" I said hesitantly. "I'm Selene- but you knew that, of course, sorry. What's your name?"

There was a piercing silence, broken by a soft groan and a voice muttering, "What- Mikasa?" I smiled slightly as Mikasa's shoulders sagged and she glanced at me. I checked the guards again and gave her a thumbs up.

"Elizabeth," she said beside me. "But I go by Panther because no one takes me seriously if I'm not thought of as a guy."

I winced slightly. "You must come from a while ago…"

"Try 1778," she said dryly. "That's in pre-wall years. Over 2200 years ago for you, if what Rae told me is correct."

My jaw dropped open. "You're from that long ago?!" I hissed, turning to stare at her in awe.

Elizabeth nodded curtly. "Gender equality? What's that?" she said. I had to lean forwards to see if she was being sarcastic or not. "Yes, that was sarcastic."

I sat back on my heels, satisfied, and watched Mikasa talk to Eren through the bars. "We need to leave soon," I said softly.

Elizabeth nodded. "Go get her. We should have left five minutes ago."

I snuck past the guards and made my way to Mikasa's side. Eren was sitting up, talking softly to her, but he looked at me and smiled briefly, nodding instead of waving. I nodded back and murmured, "Sorry to break up this cozy gathering, but we need to leave."

Mikasa's shoulders slumped. "I'll be fine," Eren said. He was trying to be confident for Mikasa. I thought he was probably more afraid than she was, in all honesty. "Go on. See you later."

She sighed softly. "Stay safe, Eren," she whispered, and then followed me as we walked away.

Elizabeth escorted us back up to the rooftops, just as the clocks chimed 2 in the morning. "Go get some sleep," she said, not unkindly. "You'll need your energy in the morning."

I nodded. "Thank you. I owe you."

"Don't worry about it," Elizabeth said. She nodded to both of us and vanished as quickly as she'd appeared.

We slid back into our room. I closed the window part way behind me, making sure the splinter was still in the way. Within a few minutes, I was asleep again.


	4. Chapter 4

Again, canon is not followed closely in this story. If you don't like it, don't read it.

Any guesses as to universes for the OCs here are welcome!

DISCLAIMER: I own no universes featured here.

0.0.0

The bells chimed 7 and woke me. I lay in bed for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling in silence. Eren's trial was that day, and I dreaded it with every bone in my body.

"Selene, c'mon, we need to go eat," Sasha called from the doorway.

I sighed and rolled out of bed, quickly dressing and heading for the mess hall. Sasha and Ymir had beaten me there, along with Connie, Jean, and Marco. Mikasa was still trying to wake up; Krista was nowhere to be found.

I sat down with a few quiet greetings and began to eat. The food was good, but it tasted like wood in my mouth. After a few bites, I resigned myself to pushing my food around on my plate.

The others were just as subdued as I was. Even the few half-hearted attempts at conversation by Sasha went unheeded. She gave up after a while, and we sat in silence.

Half an hour later, after the remaining members of our little group had joined us, the clocks chimed again. Fear bubbled in the pit of my stomach. We stood as one and mechanically cleared our table. Those around us watched us with concern, or disgust, or just an unreadable face. I met no eyes and kept my face facing the ground.

We made our way to the courtroom. I stayed at the back of the group. The others made no effort to comfort Armin or Mikasa; we knew it would be a futile effort.

As soon as we reached the courtroom, we were greeted by Commander Erwin and Squad Leader Levi. Levi just watched us all as Erwin spoke softly to us, telling us that he would do his best to get Eren released to his care. I nodded silently; Armin thanked him. Mikasa was stone cold silent.

Mikasa and Armin accompanied the Commander and Levi to the Defendant's side of the courtroom. The rest of us took up a row at the back of the room.

The judge pounded the gavel on the desk and the meeting came to order. With a start, I realized the doors were opening to our right and turned to see what it was.

Eren walked in, hands handcuffed together. He looked tired. There was a small amount of curiosity in his eyes, that swiftly changed to worry and fear when he saw the amount of people there.

The trial began as his guards fastened him to a metal pole in the center of the room, forcing him to kneel. It dragged on and on, and I sank lower in my seat as it progressed. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and swung over the back of the pew-type seating. The others were engrossed in the trial.

I slipped out silently and made my way outside. The courtyard was even more barren in the day light. Only a few people wandered around, and almost no one took notice of me.

There was an enormous storehouse a few buildings over from the courthouse. I slipped through some small back alleys and found the entrance. It was locked. I rolled my eyes and climbed up to a window that was propped open.

Inside was full of crates and pallets, stacked 5 meters high in places. I grinned and started climbing.

The entire place was a jungle-gym to me. I clambered up crates, leapt from one to the other, launched off and rolled when I landed. It was so fun- even more fun than the 3DMG. I must've run for ages before a shadow caught my eye and Elizabeth waved at me.

Her hood on her outfit was down, this time, revealing dark brown hair tightly braided back and pulled into a bun. She wore a long coat, charcoal black, accented with gray and ruby red. Her boots were black knee-high leather and she carried a lot of weapons- two swords strapped to her waist, a row of small knives running diagonally across her chest, two pistols tucked under her arms. She nodded at me briefly. I waved back.

"What are you doing here?" I asked after a moment.

"You were having fun. I couldn't miss out," Elizabeth said with a shrug. "Free running is my life. It's saved my life more than once."

"It has? That's- really cool, actually."

She smirked and launched off the crates she was on.

We played around like squirrels for over an hour, chasing each other, playing tag, racing each other from one end of the storehouse to another. She was faster than I was, by a little bit at least. Probably had more practice as well.

When the clock chimed 12, I realized we'd be hanging out for over two hours. "Oh no," I gasped. "I have to go see what the verdict is."

Elizabeth nodded. "Go," she said firmly. I sprinted for the open window and launched out of it, not bothering to watch Elizabeth's departure.

I launched off the roof into a back alley and sprinted for the exit, almost running into Krista and Ymir. "What happened?" I said quickly, breathless. "Is he-"

"Survey Corps," Krista said quickly. "He's safe for now."

My shoulders sagged in relief. I bent double, breathing deeply. "Thank God," I managed to say. "Where're they?"

"They took Eren away as soon as the trial ended," Ymir said tonelessly. "Mikasa and Armin are trying to figure out where."

I nodded. "Thanks," I gasped out. "Got bored and went for a run."

"I understand," Krista said. "We're going back out tomorrow morning. We were told to repack and be ready to leave at 5."

"Wow," I said, catching my breath slowly. "That was fast."

"I know. I don't even know why we came along, honestly-"

"Witnesses," Ymir said. "In case the prosecution needed some."

I nodded. It made sense.

We packed up that night and headed out the next morning in the pouring rain. I wore my waterproof cloak as we set out, in a long convoy, fully loaded with supplies for the exterior. I rode towards the front of the line, head down. I didn't talk to anyone as the horse in front of me began to move and we advanced out of the Capitol gates.

It took us a little over a week to travel back past Wall Sina and back to the training camp. As soon as we arrived, we were ordered to deposit our stuff and report to the main yard.

A small stage had been created while we were gone, and the other trainees wandered around the yard as we waited, talking softly amongst themselves. I slipped through the crowd, listening to gossip and categorizing it for later.

A hand landed on my arm. I turned to see Jean and Marco standing there. "Hey," I said with a brief smile. "What's up?"

"We should probably be asking you," Marco said, a smile dancing at the corner of his mouth.

I inclined my head. "They're saying that this is the official meeting to decide which branch of the military we go into."

Jean looked startled.

"Where are you going?" Marco asked.

I smiled again, somewhat sadly. "Survey Corps. It's not like I have much of a choice; I didn't make the top ten, and the Garrison isn't very appealing to me." Then I sighed. "I hope you live well in the interior, both of you."

"Thanks," Jean said softly, nodding at me.

Marco just smiled mysteriously.

"Cadets, line up!" Shadis roared, and I waved briefly to them, before making my way to my spot as 14th in the ranks.

Erwin took the stage and began to speak. I listened silently, stock still, eyes flicking everywhere to see the reactions to his speech. There were so many people with wide, terrified eyes, and I knew, without a doubt, that they would practically be running away when he dismissed those who were afraid.

I couldn't recall his speech too much later on; but I knew as soon as he told those who were scared to leave if they wished. It was like a flood; people immediately took off, vanishing behind me. I kept my eyes forwards, keenly aware of those who were still here. Sasha, Connie, Armin, Mikasa, all of them stayed.

My heart fell to my feet when I saw Jean pulling Marco away. Tears grew behind my eyes; I blinked them away and focused on Erwin.

"I welcome all of you to the Survey Corps," he finally said, and praised us for being brave. I relaxed my stance and looked around. Sasha had fallen to her knees, burying her face in her hands. Connie's knees were shaking terribly. Mikasa, Bertolt, and Reiner all looked unaffected. Armin glanced over at me with wide eyes and a trembling smile.

My heart still ached terribly. Jean and Marco had left, left me alone to face the outside without them. I hoped that I could face the world outside the walls by myself when a hand slid into mine and squeezed tightly.

"We're staying," Marco said into my ear.

I spun and threw my arms around him, a few tears spilling over. "Thank you," I whispered, and I knew that he could hear because he hugged me even tighter.

After a moment, I released and flung my arms around Jean. He stood there, wooden, for a moment, before gently patting my back and detaching himself from me. "I really hope this isn't a terrible idea," he growled.

I laughed, still shaky, and wiped my eyes. "I'm so glad," I said. "So glad you're staying…"

"What, and leave you to die out there by yourself?" Jean snorted. "No. We'll go down together, according to this suicidal bastard." He jerked his thumb at Marco, who grinned, completely unashamed.

"Cadets," Erwin said behind us, and all three of us snapped to attention. He'd stepped off the stage and was greeting us one by one. "Names?"

"Cadet Fletcher."

"Cadet Kirchstein."

"Cadet Bodt."

"Full names, Cadets."

I hesitated for a brief moment, before, after an encouraging nod, saying, "Cadet Selene Fletcher, sir."

"Cadet Jean Kirchstein."

"Cadet Marco Bodt."

Erwin nodded, apparently satisfied with this. "Thank you for joining the Survey Corps, all of you. I'm sure you'll be of great value to the Corps."

I almost smiled, remembering Caddy, but instead nodded, choosing to keep my silence.

"We'll be leaving in the morning," he told us. "Be fully packed up and ready to go. We're heading to a small castle that Squad Levi has claimed as their headquarters."

"A castle?" I murmured. "Wow."

"Dismissed," he said. We snapped to attention, before departing. I walked between Jean and Marco, slipping my hands into theirs. Marco grinned down at me and swung our joined hands. Jean just looked at me with a raised eye, but let me hold his hand.

When we moved out in the morning, Marco and I flanked Jean. We rode together for the full journey, occasionally switching places to mix it up, adding and subtracting other people, but ultimately keeping together.

When we arrived at the castle Squad Levi was staying at, we were swept into a whirlwind of cleaning the castle top to bottom. It was a miracle the place was still standing, honestly.

Eren was there, too, under a tight leash. I felt bad for him; he'd obviously seen all of us around, but was unable to come visit, not until Captain Levi cleared him to come see us. When he did, he was swamped with people almost immediately.

"You guys are all here?" he asked in shock.

"Yep!" Sasha piped up cheerfully.

His eyes swept the circle of people and landed on the three of us. "Even you, Jean?"

Jean snorted and looked away.

"Between your little speech that you made at the end of Training, me, and Selene, we convinced him," Marco said. I glanced up at him; he was grinning widely. Jean looked slightly put out.

I had a few run-ins with members of Squad Levi. Fortunately or unfortunately, I found myself tongue tied often around them, which thankfully meant I couldn't make a complete fool of myself. Sasha and Connie, on the other hand, weren't so fortunate.

I conversed with someone from another universe on an almost daily basis. I'd been focused on only a few people, so far- Sixteen was good for sparring, Stephanie for chatting, Elizabeth for free running and Asteria for learning about Caddy and how she worked. I'd only spoken to Rae twice in the week and a half I'd been at the castle, but each time she was warm and helpful. I got the feeling she was just happy all the time, and loved to talk with any of us.

I hadn't met any other alternate versions of Rae yet, but Stephanie had assured me that sooner or later I'd meet someone besides the same five people over and over again. I'd just have to be patient.

We moved into the ring between Walls Maria and Rose after a month in the castle. Those in the town around the gate welcomed us like heroes. I knew, somehow, that the reception after our return would be completely different, and kept my head down firmly and hood in place.

The two wooden gates to the outside rose over our heads as we rode out. I took my place at the back of the right flank. I was with two semi-veterans, a young woman named Gemma and a man named Pierre. Gemma was olive skinned, like I was, with warm brown eyes and light brown hair that was tied back in a loose ponytail. She was probably 19 or so, and cheerful and welcoming towards me. Pierre was pale and freckled, with a mop of red hair and green-gray eyes that were piercing when he first saw me. He was maybe 20. They greeted me warmly; Pierre clapped me on the arm gently, and Gemma gave me a smile and a soft "Nice to meet you".

Only a half an hour in, the first flare fired off in front of us. I stared at it for a moment, before Gemma shouted, "What are you waiting for?!" Then I remembered my job as signaler and quickly loaded another shot of the same color- red- and fired it off.

We kept riding, now on high alert as Titans had been sighted on our side of the scouting mission. Pierre and Gemma shouted back and forth to each other and me, commenting on all sorts of things- the weather, politics, everything under the sun. I guessed they'd been partners before, and welcomed the chance to talk again. There was a green flare in the distance that signaled for us to turn to the left. I fired off the green flare and we kept going.

More flares started coming from the right flank. I saw 2 black flares and started, firing off another one to alert the Commander. After a few moments, another green flare pointed left. I signaled our seeing it.

"Abberants? So soon?" Pierre muttered from my left.

"I don't like this," Gemma said quietly. "We were doomed from the start, bringing along that Titan boy-"

"Enough," I growled. "He's my friend."

Silence. "Oh… sorry," Gemma said, looking slightly guilty.

"It's ok," I said simply. "Just keep that in mind. He isn't a bad person. He's just… new to this whole thing."

"I bet it was a shock for you, having to fight in Trost!" Pierre called.

I nodded. "It was."

"Did you get to see the mechanical Titan?" Gemma asked.

Goosebumps grew on my arms briefly. "Yeah," I called after a moment. "It was- massive. Really scary. I didn't really know what to think of it."

"Beyond the fact that it's terrifying?" Pierre shouted. I laughed, gradually feeling more and more comfortable with the two.

We started to see signs of carnage as we rode on. A windmill was totally destroyed; smoke still wafted up from the rubble. A few trees were uprooted and thrown aside.

"This isn't good," Gemma murmured as she urged her horse to my side. "Usually we get at least a little farther out before the Titans start appearing. They're everywhere today."

I nodded, and that's when we saw the dead man. He was crushed on the ground, neck at an odd angle, bleeding out of his mouth. I gulped silently and bowed my head in deference to his sacrifice. Gemma gasped softly at the sight.

A stand of trees appeared in the distance. I narrowed my eyes against the wind and saw that they were tall, taller than any building I'd ever seen before, even taller than the walls. They were easily 80 meters high.

"Massive, aren't they!" Pierre shouted over. I glanced over, and he grinned back at me as I nodded.

"The first time he saw them, he asked me why we didn't just build the walls out of them," Gemma told me dryly. I giggled as he sputtered.

We rode closer, and I looked up at the trees. Tiny figures moved around in the limbs, attracting the attention of the few Titans at the edge of the forest. I knew they were people, but I never knew how small we really were compared to the monstrosities until now.

"Our orders are to enter the forest on horseback," Gemma called. "We may catch up with the Commander, if we're lucky."

I nodded briefly and grinned over at them. "Sounds good!"

We rode into the trees. As soon as we were inside, we were greeted with a small squad of soldiers. Their leader waved to us, and we quickly pulled over to the side.

"There's an Abberant, up ahead," the Squad Leader told us. "You're to attempt to herd it towards the trap laid out for it. Commander's orders."

Gemma nodded grimly as Pierre responded, "Understood. Thanks."

"Good luck to the three of you," he said, saluting us as we took off again. We didn't talk to each other as much now, trying to prepare ourselves for the fight to come. Gemma and Pierre unstrapped themselves from their saddles and readied themselves. "Be ready to launch off," Pierre called. I hastily followed suit and rose in the stirrups, settling my nerves and waiting for their signal.

That was, until we spotted the Aberrant ahead of us.

It had short blonde hair, cropped to its chin. My first thought was that it was Armin, as crazy as that was- but I knew it wasn't him. It was a female, running as fast as she could.

"Now!" Pierre roared, and launched into the air.

I fired both wires into the trees. The horses kept going as we shot out of the saddles and into the air. I took a deep breath of the fresh air and sighed, feeling peaceful as we flew along.

Someone was screaming something up ahead. I listened as we soared along and recognized the tone. It was Eren.

So the Aberrant was after Eren? Or was it just coincidence?

I frowned and kept moving, following Pierre and Gemma's lead. The next second, they'd drawn their blades and fired into the female Titan's back, slicing for her neck.

The skin turned into crystal; their blades shattered.

The next moment, Pierre's wires were yanked out of the Female Titan's shoulder. She started spinning him, faster and faster. I cried out in shock and horror as his screams of pain were cut off with a nasty cracking noise.

Gemma dropped back to hover next to me. Her face was sheet white, each freckle on her face standing out like a drop of ink. "It knows how we work?" she gasped.

"Look, we'll try it again," I said quickly. "You take left, I'll take right, we go in one right after the other."

She didn't stop to question me, luckily. I shot forwards, leaning to the right and pulling my appendages into my sides. I flew forwards at a faster rate than normal, speeding up to the point that my eyes filled with tears. I blinked them away hastily and readied my blades.

Gemma shot across the Female Titan's back, slicing hard into the flesh. It didn't work- the crystals formed again and her blades made a nasty screeching noise. I winced, but followed suit, not expecting it to work. It didn't, but I got in a good cut on her shoulder accidentally.

Then Gemma started to scream. I spun in midair to see the Female Titan holding her legs. She was slicing like mad, trying to escape, but with one squeeze there was a snapping sound and she wailed in pain.

"GEMMA!" I screamed, hurtling towards her, but it was too late. The Female Titan threw her aside like garbage- she impacted, face first, into a tree and didn't move.

I swallowed thickly and kept moving, tears streaming down my cheeks. What the hell was I going to do? I was alone, now- both my comrades were dead. If I didn't think of something, I was going to end up just like them.

I flew behind the Female Titan, hovering just a few meters behind her. She knew that I was there, and took a few swats at me, but I managed to avoid them- barely. I tried again to get a hit on her neck, but the crystal reappeared and the Female Titan got so close I could feel her fingers brush my head. An unwanted whimper escaped my lips.

Eren was screaming at Squad Levi again. I guessed he could see me and wanted to help. "STAY ON THE DAMN HORSE, EREN JAEGER!" I shrieked furiously. "OR I SWEAR TO SINA THAT I WILL MURDER YOU AFTER THIS!"

Faint laughter carried back to me. I dodged another swipe of the Female Titan's hand, a small smile growing on my face.

Then she got in a lucky swipe, and I shrieked as I went flying.

My last conscious thought was that I wasn't going to even survive my first mission.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey again!

Sorry for the belated update. Getting back into the swing of things with school and everything.

Remember, things aren't completely canon anymore; people who die in the manga could possibly survive.

Guess away at universes to your heart's content.

Enjoy!

0.0.0

I woke up to the sun on my face. I ached everywhere, but, as I sat up slowly and took inventory, I was in one piece.

My legs and arms hurt badly, but I didn't have any breaks in them, thankfully. My 3DMG was dented slightly, but unbroken. It still worked, too- I fired off the wires into the trees near myself and took off.

Up into the trees I went. There was no one near me at all, no Titans or humans. It was unnerving, how quiet the forest was.

"Hello?" I shouted.

Silence greeted me.

I sighed and got my bearings. The shadows hadn't changed that much from before I got knocked out. That was comforting to know. It also meant that I wasn't sure which direction to go-

-until a group of people shot by beneath me.

I yelped and leapt off after them, firing off both bolts and yanking my hood down on the way. "Hey!" I yelled. "It's me! You're ok?"

Eren twisted in midair to look at me as I caught up. "Selene?!" he yelled, eyes widening. "But I saw you go flying! You were dead!"

"Do I look dead to you?!" I snapped. "I'm sore, but I'll be fine. Now, hoods up and focus, stupid, or you'll hit a tree."

He nodded and shut his mouth as I pulled my hood back over my head. "Hi, guys," I said, much quieter, speaking to the rest of the team.

"Good to know you're all right," Petra said warmly. "We were worried."

I ducked my head shyly. "Thanks for your concern."

We flew on in silence, before a flare went off to our right and I turned towards it. "It must be Levi!" Petra said happily. "Give me a moment." She fired off a green colored flare to match the other one.

I felt very, very bad about this suddenly.

We continued on, before a figure appeared to our right. I turned to look at it and narrowed my eyes. I'd told Rae last night that we were setting out on a mission the next morning, and she'd told me to ask for advice if I thought I needed any. Internally, I now asked, *Hey, Rae? Do you know when Captain Levi appears? Because we think we see him now…*

Her response was almost instantaneous. *GRAB GUNTER!*

I yelped and released my wires from the trees they were attached to. As I continued on, using my momentum, I turned around to see the figure charging towards Gunther. As he watched, eyes wide, I changed course. Seconds before the figure reached him, I slammed into him, tackling Gunter out of the way as a sword sliced at the back of his neck. He released both wires and we dropped together. After a moment to get our bearings, I quickly released him and shot my own wires into the trees. He nodded to me, trembling.

"Thanks!" he yelled. I blushed and ducked my head briefly, before turning my attention back to the shadowy figure that was attacking us.

*Did you get him?!* Rae asked breathlessly.

*Yeah, he's fine. Why, what happened?!*

*In my version of your world- the one I know about- he died from that,* she said flatly.

I fell dead silent, both internally and externally. *How many people die in your version?* I asked after a long pause.

*… Do you really want to know?*

*Yeah.*

*… All of them. Except for Eren. The mystery person wipes out all of Squad Levi.*

I took a deep breath. *Well. That changes today.*

I could hear the grin in her voice as she said, *Go get 'em, Tiger.*

"Don't let them get close!" I shouted. "Who knows if they'll try to kill another one of us?!"

The person tried again and again, but we were keeping an eye on them now and there was no way they were going to get close enough. Finally, after apparently growing weary of our avoidance maneuvers, the person dropped back.

"It's a Titan shifter!" Auruo shouted, dodging another tree. "We need to defeat them!"

"Are you kidding?!" Eld roared back. "That's suicide! We need to get Eren to the-"

A roar from behind us cut his words short. Together, they twisted to see who it was. I didn't need to.

"GO!" I shrieked, and brought all my appendages into my sides. My feet linked together and locked; I put one sword away and crossed both arms over my chest. The next time I shot the wires, I shot forwards like an arrow, slicing through the air easily.

We weren't gaining ground, even though the others had noticed my technique. The Female Titan was faster than any other Titan we'd ever encountered. I dared a glance behind myself and saw the Female Titan's eyes narrow as she ran even faster. She made a grab for Eren- I reached out, grabbed his wire, and pulled hard, jolting him slightly, but taking him out of her reach.

She roared in anger, which was not a smart idea. I grinned at her over my shoulder and screamed, "COME ON, THEN! CAN'T YOU CATCH UP?!"

"QUIT PROVOKING THEM!" Auruo shouted. I blushed and bowed my head.

Rae laughed inside my head. *That was hilarious. But stupid. Seriously. Keep moving, and we'll see what we can do.*

I smiled a tiny bit and we kept moving.

*If you can keep from engaging with her directly, you may be able to escape,* she continued. *If you need help, I can send someone to assist, but I'd rather not- we don't want to interfere too much in everyone's universe.*

*Understood,* I said back. *We should be ok for now, but, if she gets too close-*

"ELD!"

The Female Titan had managed to grab onto one of Eld's wires. He dangled from her grasp and she started to spin him.

*Give me something, anything- it doesn't have to be a person- but Eld's gonna die, just like Pierre-*

*Point at him and scream Arresto Momentum!*

"ARRESTO MOMENTUM!" I yelled, pointing at the Female Titan's hand. It came to an abrupt halt. Eld finished the rotation he was on and shook his head; Petra blasted back to cut him out of the Titan's hand.

All of them stared at me. I looked away, rubbed my arm shyly.

Then the Female Titan roared and grabbed for me. I flinched out of the way and we took off again.

This time, I could see the trees ahead of me thinning out, and open fields before us. "Firing off a flare!" Gunter shouted, and as soon as we reached the edge of the trees he did so.

We went up as high as we could. The Titan stopped beneath us and grabbed for our feet. We dodged out of the way, time and time again, waiting and praying for anyone to respond to our flare.

"She's climbing the tree," Eld said quietly, voice thick with dread. I clung to the tree trunk we were on and closed my eyes.

"Can we go back into the forest?" Eren asked.

Petra shook her head. "It's not worth it. Also, we're running low on air." She tapped her tank. It made a hollow sound. I frowned.

Eren sighed and leaned on the tree trunk, staring at the sky. "So, if no one's seen our flare, we're gonna die here," he said flatly.

I straightened up, turning to look at him with iron eyes as Gunter snapped, "Don't say that. We're not dead until we see whatever afterlife there is."

"Very eloquent," I mumbled.

Our tree shook as the Female Titan climbed higher. I slowly sank into a sit, pressing my back to the tree and closing my eyes. My face was turned up to the sun, and I drank it in.

*How's it going?* Rae asked absently.

*Terrible. Everyone's alive, but we're stuck up in a tree.*

*… A tree? Do you need help?*

I sighed softly. *It would be nice. I'd rather like not dying today.*

*All right. Be there in a minute or two.*

I sagged against the tree and risked a glance over. There was the Female Titan, already halfway up the tree. I sighed wearily and stared up at the sky.

*I'm on the ground. Get ready to move, and move fast.*

I barely nodded and slowly changed position, rising onto my knees and looking over the edge, bark clutched tightly in my hands.

There was utter silence in the forest, beyond the soft groaning and creaking of the tree we were on. Then, abruptly, there was a shift. I swore that I could hear music, and as I looked, I spotted a small figure, standing on the ground, staring at the Female Titan and our tree.

A faint voice floated up to me, but I couldn't distinguish the words. The Female Titan turned her head to stare at the person.

I realized, abruptly, that I recognized that hair color.

*I see you,* I told her, a smile creeping across my face. I vanished it quickly, watching to see what she'd do.

Her voice was finally loud enough for me to hear, but I still couldn't hear the words. She was singing something. It was only when she hit the loud, high note that I could hear her clearly.

"… life will pass me by if I don't open up my eyes- and that's fine by me…"

"What's that?" one of the squad asked.

"There's someone on the ground. They're attracting the Female Titan's attention!" I called. "Come look!"

They followed my gaze and saw Rae, just as she started to sing louder than ever. "So wake me up when it's all over; when I'm wiser and I'm older. All this time I was findin' myself- and I didn't know I was lost…"

"This is our chance," I said abruptly, as the Female Titan stared at Rae inscrutably. "We need to move. Whoever it is- they're giving us an opening."

"You're right. We need to go, now," Eld said commandingly. "Come on."

Right as we were about to take off, Rae finished singing and slammed her heel into the ground- hard. A shockwave exploded from the point of impact and shook the tree, hard enough to knock the Female Titan straight off the trunk. I gasped in shock, though internally I was grinning.

"GO!" she screamed up at us.

I took off immediately, firing from the tree we were on to the next. "Come on!" I shouted over my shoulder, waving them forwards. "We've gotta go!"

We took off in the direction I was going. The Female Titan roared behind us, but I glanced back and made a soft noise of surprise.

Rae had her trapped in a circle of light, that pulsed in time with her singing. The others looked like they wanted to go back and investigate, but Rae and I both knew equally well that if they did, our cover was blasted to pieces. She waved us on without turning around, and, shockingly, they followed her silent order.

We almost missed the rest of the Survey Corps. I touched down and sprinted towards the convoy at random, until a shout made me switch directions. Marco and Jean were side by side, and Jean had my horse hooked to his saddle. After a moment to get myself ready, I swung up into the saddle and patted the horse's neck gently.

"All here, Commander!" Gunter shouted.

"Move out. We've lost the Female Titan for now- we'll be retreating back to Wall Rose!" Commander Erwin shouted.

I knew differently, but no one said anything.

We took off riding as fast as we could. I fell into place between Marco and Jean, feeling more at home with the boys. "We thought you were dead!" Jean yelled over the wind and hoof beats. "Eren said you got smushed!"

"He was wrong!" I yelled back. "Eyes forwards!"

The ground rumbled beneath our horses as we galloped away. I risked a glance back- there was no sign of Rae or the Female Titan.

The Commander called for a halt after a while. We drew our horses together and dismounted. I immediately left my horse in the care of Jean and Marco and headed towards the carts of the dead.

They were mostly wrapped up, and I swallowed, looking for any sign of Gemma or Pierre among them. I couldn't see any, and was close to giving up, when a shock of brilliant red hair, sticking out of the top of a sheet, caught my attention.

Slowly, cautiously, I approached the sheet and looked at it, adverse to touching it. It was the only way to find out whether it really was Pierre, though. I swallowed and slowly lifted the sheet near his face.

It was Pierre. I choked back a sob and dropped the sheet again, one hand flying up to cover my mouth.

And if that was Pierre, then…

I turned to the other bundle on his right. I was just as cautious lifting the sheet, hand now trembling with sadness. It shifted aside to reveal Gemma's face. I withdrew my hand and just knelt there, at the heads of my comrades. It was only by the grace of whatever deity was out there that I was alive, and they were not.

"Fletcher," Captain Levi said. I jolted and stood up, careful not to step on either one. My fist slammed into my heart as I looked at him.

"Yes sir?" I asked.

He stared at me for a moment, face unreadable. "It's customary for the comrades to take the patches of those who have died," he finally said. "Since you were the third part of their group, that falls to you."

I took a breath and nodded. "Thank you, sir," I murmured.

I expected him to turn and walk away, but he kept staring at me. I shifted nervously.

"Gunter said you knew that the Female Titan was about to kill him," he said. "Is that true?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I just knew that something was terribly off, and when I saw her going for him- I just figured I should act."

"You've done well," he said. "Dismissed."

I saluted once more and knelt again, carefully shifting the sheets aside to grasp the patch on Gemma's breast pocket. With one hard pull, it came free, and I clutched it in my left fist as I repeated the process with Pierre.

Then I stood up, moved patches from the left to the right hand, and saluted them. "Thank you," I whispered, tears stinging my eyes, but unwilling to fall. "Thank you for everything."

Then I returned to Jean and Marco. Gemma and Pierre's patches laid right over my heart.

They knew not to ask me questions as I mounted up again and stared at the back of my horse's neck. She whinnied softly and I patted her mane absently.

"Mount up!" Commander Erwin shouted loudly. "We'll return to Wall Rose!"

Jean and Marco flanked me as we fell into formation. There was an unbroken silence between the three of us, and I was thankful for it as we moved out.

Titans, non-Abberants, fell in behind us as we kicked our horses into a gallop. I bent low over my horse's neck and whispered encouragement in her ears. We were closer to the center than the back, but I knew that we were slowed down significantly by the carts of the dead, all at the far back of the convoy. I shivered silently.

A commotion from behind us prompted me to twist and look. Two horses were riding towards us, followed closely by an Aberrant who was running for them.

I watched in horror as one man was caught and thrown into the Titan's mouth. The horse he'd been riding neighed frantically and sped up. There was another body thrown limply across the saddle, I noticed. It was gone before I could see what it was. The horse joined the procession moments later.

There was still another figure, riding hard. He was almost flattened to the horse. I watched as the Titan grabbed at him and missed. The horse sped up and got to the back of the procession safely.

I faced forwards again and rode as hard as I could. My horse was still fairly fresh, which meant that we could keep going. Shouts echoed from all around me, driving me deeper into my cloak. Tears squeezed out of my tightly-shut eyes.

I was terrified.

We kept going, slowly losing the Aberrant. I kept my eyes forwards and prayed the entire time.

"Dump the bodies!" someone shouted behind me, and I bowed my head silently. The wagons' rattling grew steadily louder.

Then Wall Rose was approaching. We rode up to the gates. Someone shouted up to the people on top to open up. Within a few tense minutes, they slowly rose again, and we sped back into Wall Rose's safety.

We'd lost 30 people, easily, from the expedition. It had barely been 10 hours from start to finish.

We regrouped at the castle. As soon as my horse was safely in the stall and my 3DMG was clean, I vanished into the woods.

I pelted through the trees, running as fast as I could away from the castle. I didn't even realize I was crying until a drop landed on my lips, and I tasted salt. Then I stopped and sobbed, pulling my knees to my chest.

A gentle hand rested on my shoulder. A strand of blonde hair entered my vision, quickly followed by Stephanie's worried face. "Oh, dear," she murmured, and pulled me into a tight hug.

"I watched them die," I sobbed into her shoulder. "And I didn't do a damn thing to stop it!"

Stephanie gently rocked back and forth. "You couldn't help them," she whispered. "You would have died as well if you had. You survived, and you can remember them. Honor their memory through your fighting."

It would help later, but for the moment, I let it all out. Stephanie just sat with me. We didn't need to say anything. She hugged me silently.

"You did well," Rae said quietly from somewhere over my head. The grass rustled and her hand landed on my head, petting my hair gently. "You saved four lives today. Important lives. I'm so, so proud of you."

"But I couldn't save Gemma or Pierre!" I sobbed. "They died, and we didn't even kill the Female Titan!"

Rae sighed heavily. "I know," she murmured. Her voice was heavy. "It'll never get easier. Just try to remember them."

I nodded, and Rae continued to stroke my hair.

The three of us sat in silence, as my tears slowed to a trickle. I occasionally hiccupped, and Stephanie patted my back like I was a baby again.

"You'll need to go back soon," she finally murmured. "They'll be looking for you-"

"_Selene_!"

"And I bet that's them now," Rae said. I finally straightened from Stephanie's grasp and wiped my eyes.

"Thank you."

In two words, I tried to convey my gratefulness for everything they'd done today. They seemed to understand- Stephanie smiled and Rae leaned over to hug me gently. "We'll be in touch," she said. "Take tomorrow off. You've been through a lot."

I nodded and watched as they phased out of existence. The next minute, Jean and Marco thundered from behind a tree. I shielded my eyes from the lantern they were carrying.

"We found her, guys!" Jean roared back into the trees. Marco reached out a hand, and I took it. He pulled hard and I stood up, but my legs wobbled. He slid an arm under my arms and helped me stand until I could get feeling back in my legs.

A few people bled out of the trees to surround me as I self-consciously stepped away from Marco. "Thank goodness you're all right!" Krista exclaimed. "Captain Levi was telling us about the wild animals that live in these woods- bears and wolves and all sorts of wildcats."

"Ah, he was just trying to scare us," Connie said, grinning at us. "I bet there aren't any mean animals out here-"

A wolf's song in the distance cut him short. We looked at each other, before Reiner said, "Let's not test that. C'mon- I bet you're starving."

We made our way back in a group. As soon as we stepped into the courtyard, we were met with the rest of the 104th.

"Where'd you go?" Sasha asked curiously, as she handed me a piece of bread.

I took a small bite, chewed, and swallowed, before saying, "Away. I needed a break."

"You were crying, weren't you?" Eren asked.

I immediately flung my hood over my face and pulled a corner of the cloak over my mouth.

"For Sina's sake, Eren, have some tact," Krista said exasperatedly. She gently patted my shoulder. "It's ok. You couldn't tell unless you looked closely."

"The two people I was assigned to partner with died today, Eren," I said, voice shaking slightly. "I almost died as well. I think I'm entitled to a few tears."

"... Sorry."

"'S ok. Just think before you speak next time."

"Fletcher."

I snapped to attention, hand flying to my heart, hood flopping back. "Sir!"

Captain Levi looked at me silently. I bit my lip and waited for whatever was going to happen.

"Stable duty tomorrow. Your horse's tack wasn't cleaned completely."

I nodded silently.

"Dismissed."

The others towed me into the castle. We split up on the stairs, and I went up to the room I shared with the other girls. Within a few minutes, I was sound asleep.


End file.
